Two Indian legal luminaries to clash in Singapore court

Two Indian legal luminaries are set to clash in a Singapore court for the first time in an arbitration award challenge by former Ranbaxy promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh against Japan's Daiichi Sankyo.

Former solicitor general of India Gopal Subramanium. Photo courtesy: livelaw

Former solicitor general of India Gopal Subramanium will represent Daiichi, while leading Indian lawyer Harish Salve will argue for the Ranbaxy promoters. Daiichi had requested the Singapore High Court to permit Subramanium to appear in the appeal proceedings after the Singapore Court of Appeals allowed Salve to argue for the Singhs.

The development has come as Singapore High Court allowed Subramanium to represent Daiichi in its court during the proceedings, said a spokesperson of P&A Law Offices, which has been representing Daiichi in its litigation in India.

Giving his reaction to Economic Times, Subramanium said, “I am looking forward to arguing in Singapore as it is a very respected jurisdiction, which has ruled on very important matters in transaction law.”

India's leading lawyer Harish Salve. Photo courtesy: sociofreak

Harish Salve was also allowed to argue the case on behalf of the Singhs nearly a month ago. In the case, Singhs are challenging an arbitration tribunal award of April 2016, which ordered them to pay Daiichi more than INR25 billion (USD386 million) in damages for allegedly concealing information regarding wrongdoing at Ranbaxy while selling the drug maker to the Japanese firm for USD4.6 billion in 2008. Now, the award is valued at INR35 billion (USD540 million) including interest and legal fees.

However, Singapore court has not fixed the date for the appeal proceedings. A lawyer close to the development said it is expected to take place in 2018.

Author

Ashraf Jamal – Senior Writer

Ashraf Jamal brings a rare depth to writing equipped with a degree in journalism, a postgraduate degree in political science, and a degree in law from the Allahabad University. His experience includes editing and publishing the Northern India Patrika and writing for Times of India for almost a decade covering just about any topic under the sun including NRIs and Indian diaspora.

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